New Year's Resolutions for beer snobs

As amazing as last year was for beer, 2014 promises to be even better. A record 500 new breweries are expected to open this year, many of them in the Bay Area ó but itís the quality of new flavorful beers that will make it another banner year. Good beer is everywhere, if you know where to look. So here are a few resolutions Iíd like to see beer lovers everywhere adopt during the coming year.

RESOLUTION NO. 1: DONíT SETTLE

Most people tend to order from the list of whateverís available, settling for something they may not actually want. They may not want to make waves or be seen as a jerk, but unless you ask for the beer you want, that bar or restaurant has no incentive to change what they carry. Ask for what you want; vote with your wallet. If enough people ask for more and better choices, most smart businesses will carry what their customers want.

NO. 2: USE A GLASS

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There are times and places where glass is not permitted, but thatís still a small percentage of your beer drinking opportunities. If someone hands you a bottle or can, ask for a glass. Itís not snobbish. Drinking out of a bottle or can reduces flavors. To release the excess carbon dioxide and let it breathe, beer should always be enjoyed out of a glass. Thatís how the brewer who made your beer intended it to be consumed. And while it would be nice if everybody served beer in the proper type of glass, the difference between any glass and the right one is fairly small. The right glass can make the beer taste a little bit better, especially if you have a discerning palate ó but the difference between drinking from the bottle and from a glass is enormous.

NO. 3: BRANCH OUT

At least once a month, stray outside your comfort zone and try a beer you wouldnít ordinarily order. If you tend toward IPAs, try some sweeter, maltier dark beers. If you prefer extreme beers, order a session beer. If you only drink local beer; try a Belgian, or vice versa. Give sour or barrel-aged beer another chance, if you didnít warm to them before. Our palates change and grow over time. To really give a beer its due, you need to spend some time with it and get to know it.

NO. 4: BECOME A MISSIONARY

You donít have to take a vow of any kind to become a missionary of good beer. Just look around. You probably have friends or family who still drink beer without much flavor, or who claim to not even like the stuff. Itís more likely that they just havenít had the right beer yet. Perhaps they have given up, believing all beer tastes the same. With so much diversity these days, there really is a beer out there for everyone. Ask them what flavors they do like, and suggest a beer that matches. Or show them how well certain foods work with beer.

NO. 5: STOP ARGUING

A lot of ink was spilled last year over the words we use to describe craft beer, over who owns which breweries and what constitutes local beer. Those debates certainly interest brewers and beer companies, but debates over semantics divide people. In the end, how the beer tastes is all that matters ó and all of the names we use to differentiate between beers are ultimately useless to our enjoyment of them. There is a small percentage of uber beer lovers who may choose not to drink a beer because of who owns the company or whether the company owns its own brewery, or even where the brewery is located. Obviously, thatís their prerogative. But I still believe that the most important aspect of the beer is its flavor.

Many beer drinkers who only buy beer from the most popular, multinational beer companies still look down on craft beer lovers and assume weíre snobs. ďItís just beer,Ē they claim, ďthe drink of the people.Ē There is some truth to that. Beer is certainly the most popular alcoholic beverage on the planet. But for those of us who remember when American beer all tasted the same, the improvement in the quality and diversity thatís occurred over the last 30-plus years is nothing short of remarkable. Perhaps 2014 will be the year more people discover that.